At least 12 die in Colorado cinema massacre

UPDATE: The suspect in the shootings has been identified as James Holmes, of North Aurora, Colorado, according to ABC news.

Police in the Denver suburb of Aurora, Colorado, said that 14 people at least 12 people had been killed and at least 50 more injured when a gunman opened fire in a theatre during a midnight premiere of the new movie Batman: The Dark Knight Rises.

Many of the dead are children; Fox affiliate KDVR is reporting that at least one of the victims is an infant, shot at point-blank range.

According to early eyewitness accounts, a man in his early 20s, masked and dressed in body armour, appeared at the front of the theatre and released a canister of gas that caused moviegoers to choke and cough.

He then began shooting with at least two weapons, a sidearm and a long gun, when people began to flee. Amidst the chaos, a fleeing suspect was captured behind the Century 16 Theatre.

He is said to be cooperating with police and has apparently warned them that his car and his Aurora apartment are booby-trapped with explosives.

Note: an earlier report from the scene said 14 people had been killed.